It is known that amides, including peptides, may be produced by reacting a carboxylic acid with a primary or secondary amine in the presence of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) and a N-hydroxy compound. Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung (B), 426 (1966) discloses that peptide formation from N-acylpeptides, which contain an optically active amino acid having a carboxyl terminal, proceeds practically free from racemization when the peptide formation is carried out using DCC with the addition of 2 tool equivalents of N-hydroxysuccinimide in tetrahydrofuran or dimethylformamide at -20.degree. C. From Chemische Berichte 103 (1970), pages 788-798, 2024-2033, 2034-2040, it is known that the effect described above can also be observed when 1-2 mol equivalents of various 1-hydroxy-benzotriazoles, 1-hydroxy-2-oxoindolines, 3-hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydroquinazolines and 3-hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydro-1,2,3-benzotriazines are used in place of said 2 mol equivalents of N-hydroxysuccinimide. It is also known that certain N-hydroxy compounds may suppress the formation of byproducts in DCC activation. According to the Journal of Organic Chemistry 37, 288 (1972), 1 mol equivalent of N-hydroxysuccinimide was successful in suppressing the formation of N-acylureas (byproducts in DCC activation) in the reaction of one mol equivalent of 1-(9-adenyl)-2,3-O-isopropylidene-.beta.-D-ribofuranuronic acid with benzyl esters of various amino acids and peptides. Chemische Berichte 106, 3626 (1973) discloses that the aminolysis of phenyl esters of amino acids and peptides substituted with electron-withdrawing groups is accelerated greatly by those N-hydroxy compounds, which have about the acidity of acetic acid, in polar solvents, especially with the use of 1 mol equivalent of 1-hydroxybenzotriazole, 1-hydroxy-2(1H)-pyridone and 3-hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydroquinazoline. According to Journal of the American Chemical Society 94, 3590 (1972), 1.1 mol equivalent of N-hydroxysuccinimide is used for the preparation of activated N-hydroxysuccinimide esters.